UPDATE 1-U.S. Farmers to Seed Less Corn, More Wheat and Soy for 2022/23 Season -USDA

By Julie Ingwersen

U.S. farmers are likely to reduce plantings of corn while expanding seedings of soybeans and wheat for the upcoming marketing year, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday.

The USDA forecast that farmers will seed 92.0 million acres (0.37 million square kilometers) of corn in the 2022/23 crop year, down from 93.3 million in 2021/22. For soybeans, acreage is projected to rise to 87.5 million acres, from 87.2 million.

The USDA projected U.S. all-wheat plantings for 2022/23 at 49.0 million acres, up from 46.7 million acres in 2021/22.

The USDA’s projected expansions in wheat and soy acres come as global food prices are at 10-year highs, led by increases in cereals and vegetable oils, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat futures this week topped $8 a bushel, the highest in nearly nine years, due to tightening world supplies of milling wheat.

CBOT soyoil futures have cooled slightly since notching an all-time high above 73 cents per pound in June, supported by scarce global vegetable oil supplies and rising demand for soy-based biofuels.

U.S. plantings of corn, which requires more fertilizer than soybeans, could be limited in 2022 by surging prices for inputs. A shortage of nitrogen fertilizer due to soaring natural gas prices is threatening to reduce global crop yields next year, CF Industries, a major producer of the crop nutrient, said on Thursday.